What’s the Worry with Social Anxiety? Comparing Cognitive Processes in Children with Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) in children is often comorbid with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). We investigated whether worry, intolerance of uncertainty, beliefs about worry, negative problem orientation and cognitive avoidance, that are typically associated with GAD, are present in children with SAD. Participants included 60 children (8–12 years), matched on age and gender. Groups included children: with primary GAD and without SAD (GAD); with primary SAD and without GAD (SAD); and without an anxiety disorder (NAD). GAD and SAD groups scored significantly higher than the NAD group on worry, intolerance of uncertainty, negative beliefs about worry and negative problem orientation, however, they did not score differently from each other. Only the GAD group scored significantly higher than the NAD group on cognitive avoidance. These findings further understanding of the structure of SAD and suggest that the high comorbidity between SAD and GAD may be due to similar underlying processes within the disorders.     

Emotion dysregulation and sleep difficulties in generalized anxiety disorder

Diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) include sleep problems, which often persist even after successful treatment of the disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine emotion dysregulation as a potential contributor to sleep problems in GAD patients. Participants comprised two groups: 59 individuals diagnosed with GAD and 66 healthy controls. They were assessed for the presence of mood and anxiety disorders and then completed self-report questionnaires assessing problems with sleep and emotion regulation. Participants in the GAD group scored significantly higher on a number of sleep outcomes than did the control group. Importantly, difficulties with emotion regulation statistically mediated the relationship between GAD and a wide range of outcomes of sleep dysfunction independently of the effects of depression and secondary anxiety diagnoses. Emotion regulation difficulties that characterize GAD mediate the relationship between symptoms of this disorder and a wide range of sleep problems. Implications for treatment and future research directions are discussed.     

Interpretation of positive social events in social phobia: An examination of cognitive correlates and diagnostic distinction

Research suggests that individuals with social phobia fear positive social events and interpret them in a negative fashion that serves to maintain anxiety. To better elucidate the nature and role of interpretation of positive events in social phobia, two studies were conducted. Study 1 examined symptom and cognitive correlates of negative interpretation of positive social events. Participants with DSM-IV diagnosed generalized social phobia (GSP) completed a measure of interpretation of positive social events (IPES) in relation to a range of symptom and cognition measures of social anxiety. Results indicated that perfectionism and a measure tapping interpersonal fears associated with social anxiety were significantly predictive of IPES scores. Study 2 examined IPES scores in clinical participants with GSP, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder with or without agoraphobia (PD/A), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and non-anxious controls. Results indicated that individuals with GSP scored higher on the IPES than those with PD/A, GAD and controls, but did not differ from OCD. These findings suggest that negative interpretation of positive events is a distinct and characteristic feature of social phobia with significant associations with other cognitive risk factors for the disorder.     

Quality of Life in Anorexia Nervosa: A Review of the Literature

The aim of this study was to compare quality of life in anorexia nervosa patients to that of subjects without eating disorders, with other eating disorders, or with other psychiatric disorders. Results showed reduced quality of life for eating disorder patients, including anorexia nervosa, as compared to normal controls and individuals with other psychiatric disorders; however, whether anorexia nervosa treatment resulted in improved quality of life remains controversial. Furthermore, anorexia nervosa had a modest impact in the physical domain, although this may reflect self-report limitations as well as the psychopathology of the disorder rather than healthy functioning.     

Impulse control disorders in women with eating disorders

We compared symptom patterns, severity of illness, and comorbidity in individuals with eating disorders with and without impulse control disorders (ICD), and documented the temporal pattern of illness onset. Lifetime ICD were present in 16.6% of 709 women with a history of eating disorders. The most common syndromes were compulsive buying disorder and kleptomania. ICD occurred more in individuals with binge eating subtypes, and were associated with significantly greater use of laxatives, diuretics, appetite suppressants and fasting, and with greater body image disturbance, higher harm avoidance, neuroticism, cognitive impulsivity, and lower self-directedness. In addition, individuals with ICD were more likely to have obsessive-compulsive disorder, any anxiety disorder, specific phobia, depression, cluster B personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, and to use psychoactive substances. Among those with ICD, 62% reported the ICD predated the eating disorder and 45% reported the onset of both disorders within the same 3-year window. The presence of a lifetime ICD appears to be limited to eating disorders marked by binge eating and to be associated with worse eating-related psychopathology, more pathological personality traits, and more frequent comorbid Axis I and II conditions. Untreated ICD may complicate recovery from eating disorders.     

Ethical sensitivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder: The role of reversal learning

Background and objectivesIn obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), amplified moral sensitivity may be related to the orbitofrontal–striatal circuit, which is also critical in reversal learning. This study examined three questions: (1) What aspects of ethical sensitivity is altered in OCD?; (2) What is the relationship between ethical sensitivity and reversal learning?; (3) Are potential alterations in ethical sensitivity and reversal learning present in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)?MethodsParticipants were 28 outpatients with OCD, 21 individuals with GAD, and 30 matched healthy controls. Participants received the Ethical Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (ESSQ), rating scales for clinical symptoms, a reversal learning task, and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST).ResultsWe found higher ethical sensitivity scores in OCD compared with healthy controls in the case of generating interpretations and options and identifying the consequences of actions. Individuals with OCD displayed prolonged reaction times on probabilistic errors without shift and final reversal errors. Participants with GAD did not differ from healthy controls on the ESSQ, but they were slower on reversal learning relative to nonpatients. In OCD, reaction time on final reversal errors mediated the relationship between ethical sensitivity and compulsions. WCST performance was intact in OCD and GAD.LimitationsSmall sample size, limited neuropsychological assessment, self-rating scale for ethical sensitivity.ConclusionProlonged reaction time at switching reinforcement contingencies is related to increased ethical sensitivity in OCD. Slow affective switching may link ethical sensitivity and compulsions.     

Symptoms of eating disorders in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to explore potential overlap of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder and eating disorders. METHOD: The authors administered a structured, self-rating scale, the Eating Disorder Inventory, to 59 outpatients at an obsessive-compulsive disorder clinic and to 60 sex-matched normal volunteers. The Eating Disorder Inventory has been previously validated as a reliable measure of the specific cognitive and behavioral dimensions of the psychopathology typical of patients with eating disorders. The scores of the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and of the healthy comparison subjects were compared with those of 32 female inpatients with anorexia nervosa (N = 10) or bulimia nervosa (N = 22) who had also been given the inventory. RESULTS: The patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder scored significantly higher than the healthy comparison subjects on all eight subscales of the Eating Disorder Inventory: drive for thinness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, ineffectiveness, perfectionism, interpersonal distrust, interoceptive awareness, and maturity fears. Relative to the healthy subjects, male patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder had more symptoms than female patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The scores of the female patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were midway between those of the 32 female patients with eating disorders and those of the 35 female normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder display significantly more disturbed eating attitudes and behavior than healthy comparison subjects and that they share some of the psychopathological eating attitudes and behavior that are common to patients with eating disorders.     

Somatic symptoms and physiologic responses in generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder: an ambulatory monitor study

BACKGROUND: Physiologic responses of patients with anxiety disorders to everyday events are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To compare self-reports and physiologic recordings in patients with panic disorder (PD), patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and nonanxious controls during daily activities. DESIGN: Participants underwent four 6-hour recording sessions during daily activities while wearing an ambulatory monitor. Physiologic and subjective data were recorded every 30 minutes and during subject-signaled periods of increased anxiety or tension or panic attack. SETTING: Participants' everyday environment. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six patients with PD and 40 with GAD, both without substantial comorbidity, and 24 controls. INTERVENTIONS: Recordings obtained during everyday activities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Recordings of heart interbeat intervals, skin conductance levels, respirations, motion, and ratings of subjective somatic symptoms and tension or anxiety. RESULTS: Patients with anxiety disorders rated higher on psychic and somatic anxiety symptoms than did controls. Common to both anxiety disorders was diminished autonomic flexibility that manifested itself throughout the day, accompanied by less precise perception of bodily states. The main differences between patients with PD and GAD were a heightened sensitivity to body sensations and more frequent button presses. There also was a trend toward heightened basal arousal in patients with PD, manifesting itself in a faster heart rate throughout the day. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PD or GAD are more sensitive to bodily changes than nonanxious individuals, and patients with PD are more sensitive than those with GAD. Patients with PD experience more frequent distress than those with GAD and controls, but their physiologic responses are comparable in intensity. The findings suggest that the perception of panic attacks reflects central rather than peripheral responses. The diminished autonomic flexibility observed in both anxiety conditions may result from dysfunctional information processing during heightened anxiety that fails to discriminate between anxiety-related and neutral inputs.     

Cognitive processes of generalized anxiety disorder in comorbid generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder

This study examines how cognitive variables, which play a central role in the development and maintenance of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), manifest themselves when GAD and major depressive disorder (MDD) are comorbid. Thirty-two participants were divided into two groups, a group of individuals with a principal diagnosis of comorbid GAD and MDD and a group of people with a principal diagnosis of GAD without MDD. Groups were compared using four cognitive variables: intolerance of uncertainty, poor problem orientation, cognitive avoidance, and beliefs about worry. Our results show that the group of individuals with a principal diagnosis of comorbid GAD and MDD were more intolerant of uncertainty, presented poorer problem orientation, and displayed more cognitive avoidance. The cognitive implications of these results are discussed, and diagnostic criteria are presented to facilitate the differential diagnosis between both groups.